‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Evaluation: Alicia Keys Musical Brings a Vibrant Depiction of Teen Girlhood to Broadway

“Hell’s Kitchen” opened on Broadway on April 20, 2024. The next is Aramide Tinubu’s evaluation of the present’s Off Broadway premiere revealed on Nov. 19, 2023. The credit and duplicate have been up to date to mirror any adjustments for the Broadway switch.

“Hell’s Kitchen,” playwright Kristoffer Diaz‘s new musical with songs by Alicia Keys, begins at a dinner desk. 17-year-old Ali (a magnetic Maleah Joi Moon, making her skilled debut) has dinner along with her mother, Jersey (Shoshana Bean), of their Hell’s Kitchen condo each evening on the similar time. It’s a routine that Jersey insists on to maintain Ali secure from the perils of New York Metropolis within the Nineteen Nineties. However for Ali, their one-bedroom condo on the forty second flooring seems like a cage. She longs to hang around along with her mates, take heed to music and flirt with an older drummer named Knuck (Chris Lee), who makes use of the courtyard of their Manhattan Plaza constructing as his stage.

Styled in baggie denims, Timberland boots, Tommy Hilfiger crop tops and gold chains, Ali speaks on to the viewers about her emotions, goals and needs. She welcomes viewers into her fantastically chaotic teenage world as if opening up her diary. With out an outlet to specific herself, she feedback on her rising frustrations with Jersey’s overbearing perspective whereas gathering the braveness to strategy Knuck.

Standard on Selection

It’s tough to unlock the expertise of being a 17-year-old woman, however underneath Michael Greif‘s course, “Hell’s Kitchen” does simply that. Loosely primarily based on Grammy Award winner Keys’ private experiences, the musical, now taking part in on Broadway after a world premiere final yr on the Public Theater, captures Ali’s ever-evolving feelings and her quest for freedom. Regardless of her mom’s guidelines, Ali rebels towards them, staying out late, attending to know Knuck intimately and preventing Jersey at each flip.

As a result of her estranged father, Davis (Brandon Victor Dixon), is knowledgeable musician, Ali solely begrudgingly learns to play the piano from her stern neighbor, Miss Lisa Jane (Kecia Lewis). However quickly she discovers that music may be one of the best ways to convey her emotions.

With absolute powerhouse vocals from the solid and songs written by Keys with orchestrations and preparations by Emmy and Grammy winner Adam Blackstone, “Hell’s Kitchen” strikes past Ali’s teenage experiences. The play additionally showcases Jersey’s perspective as a single mom decided to get her daughter to make completely different selections from her personal. Although Keys’ iconic music is used all through, Diaz and Blackstone don’t haphazardly sprinkle the tunes throughout two acts. As an alternative, tracks like “You Don’t Know My Identify” and “Fallin” come thundering ahead from shocking characters at surprising occasions.

The set design, although easy, captures the essence of New York Metropolis. Designer Robert Brill makes use of black metal rectangles to showcase the town’s vertical constructions and linear strains. Picture projection is used within the background to orient the viewers in a selected neighborhood or place. The minimalism of the stage and Ali’s earnest narration make the viewers really feel part of the manufacturing somewhat than simply spectators.

Along with Moon and Bean’s sensational vocal vary, “Hell’s Kitchen” illustrates how tender mom/daughter relationships may be. It additionally displays the problems underlying New York Metropolis within the ’90s whereas demonstrating the affect of loss, absentee fathers and over-policing in communities of colour. For the reason that play runs at a prolonged 2 hours and half-hour (together with an intermission), these themes are sometimes drawn out and generally really feel cliché, bordering on corny. Nonetheless, absolutely the dynamism of the solid retains the present from falling into pure melodrama.

Nonetheless, “Hell’s Kitchen” is a quintessential musical. A number of the dancing is over-elaborate at occasions, particularly throughout tender numbers like “Hallelujah/Like Water” or sensual moments together with “Un-thinkable (I’m Prepared).” Whereas these segments might have shined with the singing alone, the ensemble’s expertise is plain. With gorgeous harmonies and the infusion of on-stage pianists, guitarists and drummers, the present seems like watching a wonderful tapestry come collectively.

When it’s all stated and carried out, “Hell’s Kitchen” is greater than a narrative a couple of younger girl’s old flame affair. Ali’s involvement with Knuck is a central part, however as one in every of her homegirls factors out, having a person isn’t the only all-important aspect of the narrative. As an alternative, “Hell’s Kitchen” is a glowing story paying homage to New York, to that stunning and heartbreaking transition between girlhood and womanhood and to the ladies who maintain our palms by means of all of it.

‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Evaluation: Alicia Keys Musical Brings a Vibrant Depiction of Teen Girlhood to Broadway